


hushed fears and borrowed jackets

by Treblereble15



Series: friends, family and other wonderful things [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Denmark and Iceland are the youngest in this au shhhh, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sweden is a good big brother, just teens being teens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 03:26:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18438068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treblereble15/pseuds/Treblereble15
Summary: When a nightmare scares his younger brother, it's up to Berwald to hush those fears. A new tradition is started and Matthias manages to borrow a jacket from his older brother.





	hushed fears and borrowed jackets

**Author's Note:**

> once again based on the headcannon of Constellation_Composer and I that Sweden and Denmark are biologically brothers. Also mildly based off that one episode of Arthur where his dad is in a fire at school and it scares Arthur. (Aka I was writing this and realized after that part was written that I based it off an episode of a show I haven't seen in over a decade)  
> (Ironically, I wrote this at 2-3am with coffee sooo art imitates life)

A crack of dim hallway light suddenly breached the comforting darkness of a blue-walled room, and although his vision was incredibly impaired without his trusty glasses, Berwald’s blue-green eyes could make out the glowing numbers of 2:37am on his digital alarm clock. Grumbling under his breath, the blond teenager awkwardly pushed himself to a sitting position in his comfy bed before trying to focus on the blurry shape of what had to be his younger brother. A mumbled version of the intruder’s name fell out of his sleep-slack lips as a hand rubbed his eyes to try and awaken himself as the floor of his room creaked slightly as the imposing figure crept into his room and shut his door. All it took to fully wake the tall teen was the muffled sound of choked down sobs come from his bottle-blond brother as he neared him. Alarmed, Berwald was quick to seize the younger teen’s wrist and pulled him into his arms, hands worriedly-but blindly- searching Matthias’s shaking form for any form of injury. 

“Matthias, what’s wrong?” That question was all it took for his younger brother to break down, immediately curling in on himself as his face tucked itself into the comforting warmth of his big brother’s throat, shoulders shaking and arms hugging himself tightly as if to protect himself. Berwald’s brows furrowed in deep concern as he held him even closer to himself as if to protect the lankier boy with his own muscular form. He hummed deep from his chest, allowing the rumbling sound to make his throat vibrate against Matthias’s head, knowing if he was to get any words from him that he’d have to calm down. While Matthias’s usual nightmares seemed to end three years prior around his tenth birthday, the younger boy still seemed to be troubled by his own imagination and anxieties when times seemed to get darker for him. The first thought to cross Berwald’s now wide-awake mind was perhaps the bully situation had gotten bad again, but after remembering the last time Matthias came home beaten to a near bloody pulp but this time with a cheek-splitting grin, he was sure that Matt had finally fought back...So what was currently making his baby brother so upset and possibly scared??

Almost half an hour later and a good portion of a kleenex box now crumpled and tossed half-assedly into his waste bin later and Matthias was sat next to Berwald in his bed and twisting the duvet in his fingers as a way to calm his anxious mind. Berwald never once pushed his brother and silently waited for the answer for what made his brother so upset earlier. Finally, just as Berwald had accidently started to doze off, Matthias’s croaky voice spoke up.  
“...There...There was a small fire in the 8th grade science lab today- well, yesterday….” He mumbled, avoiding eye contact with Berwald as he recalled the details. When he saw an opportunity, Berwald spoke up, “No one got hurt, right?”  
“Wha- No! Thank god but …” The younger quickly replied though the last part of his statement came out rushed and purposely mumbled. Due to their close proximity to each other in the twin sized bed, Berwald could feel heat start to emit from his freckle-faced brother and he had to bite back a smirk and teasing remark, “But what, Matt?” He asked, though frowned when Matthias remained quiet. The elder sighed and ran a hand through his hair before fumbling around for his glasses and once securing them, slipped them on his face so he could properly see his brother’s expression.  
“Matthias Christian, what’s wrong? I can’t help if ya don’t tell me.” He asked with a stern undertone, using a gentle hand under his chin to make his brother face him and look him in the eyes. He briefly felt guilty for the stern tone until he realized that the walls his brother had quickly built suddenly came crashing down.  
“I-It made me realize that a fire could happen at your school and you may not be lucky because you older kids are allowed to use more dangerous chemicals and you’re a huge nerd so you probably would be in there alone and if a fire happened no one would be there to save you a-and-” Another sob tore it’s way out of Matthias’s mouth, effectively cutting off his flash flood of words as his still lanky arms flung around Berwald and his face found itself back in the crook of his brother’s neck, tears once again running down his face as he began to cry again.  
Despite the voice in his head all but yelling at him not to laugh, a laugh still bubbled up from Berwald’s chest as he hugged his distraught sibling, his shoulders shaking with the gwaufs. He was somewhat aware of the fist angrily hitting his shoulder but he ignored it in favour of ruffling Matthias’s wild curls in rough affection that seemed to curb the tears once again. Seeing his brother no longer distressed and rather now peeved by his reaction, Berwald gently took hold of his shoulders and pushed him away so he could look him in the eyes, “Matt, while I appreciate your concern, I would never use dangerous chemicals without other nerds, as you tactfully put, or teachers in the lab with me. And if a fire were to occur, I know the safety protocol to put it out.” He said, compassion and amusement rumbling his sleep-deepened voice before he gave his brother a playful noogie, “Plus, there’s a thing called fire alarms, ya knucklehead.” Once again he felt Matthias’s face heat up in the unmistakable blush as it flushed across his whole face, his lithe hands desperately trying to get his older brother’s hands to release him.  
“Shuddup!” He exclaimed in a hushed voice as to not awaken their parents, a scowl evident in even his voice. Berwald sniggerd and released him, though playfully nudged him with an elbow, “Feelin’ better?” He asked, his voice calm but did hold some worry in it.  
Matthias silently nodded, still pretending to be mad at him though leaned against him in gratitude, “...Yeah.” He finally mumbled after a minute or two passed by.  
“So, d’ya think you can go back to sleep or are we gonna make some coffee and watch reruns until Ma makes breakfast?”  
“Why wait for her to make breakfast, you gotta car and I got dumb ideas, let's to fuck this town up.” Matthias replied, a smile finally making it's way onto his face until his cheek was pinched and he let out an indignant squawk as protest.  
“Ey! Yer too young to say that kind of shit.”  
“You just said ‘shit’ though!”  
“Yeah and I’m a highschooler while you’re in middle school, Baby brat.” Berwald retorted, still pinching Matthias’s cheek though released it when he felt Matt try and lick his hand, “Lick me and I’ll drag you back to your room.”  
“Touch my face and I’ll do more than lick you!” Came the snarky remark. For a brief second Berwald thought about going about his threat but decided to be nice and simply rolled his eyes, simply getting out of bed and tugged off his own pajama shirt in favor of walking over to his dresser and pulled on a plain tee shirt. “Go get dressed and we’ll to drive around for a bit. Maybe we’ll even go harass Tino and the others and drag them along, sound good?” He asked, his back to his little brother. He heard Matthias’s sound of affirmation before hearing some muffled shuffling before the door to his room opened and shut, letting him know Matt had left to go to his room to get dressed.  
Twenty minutes later found the boys parked outside Tino’s house with four travel cups of coffee made for each teen’s taste, Matthias sat shotgun with his knees to his chest and his phone between his knees as he tried to rouse Lukas while also trying to catch a rather stubborn Rapidash that just wouldn’t go in his pokeball without a friggen fight! Finally, a sleep rumpled and rather grumpy Finn made his way out of his house, a death metal tee on and torn wrinkled jeans from the day before letting both brothers know he only just crawled out of bed and threw on whatever was on his floor. Berwald nudged Matthias as a way to silently tell him to scoot his scrawny butt to the backseat before unlocking the car doors to let Tino in. Matthias fell into the backseat with the grace of a bull and grumbled about how Ber ‘made the Rapidash run away’ but silently buckled himself in the backseat before silently asking for his coffee by making grabby hands right next to Berwald’s face. The cup was handed over as Tino slid into the once occupied seat and was quick to snatch the cup that was clearly his based on the pure black-coffee scent wafting from it. After a gulp of it, the brown eyed teen seemed to liven up and smiled at the brothers, “So, what’s the special occasion.”  
“Baby brat here had a ni-”  
“No special occasion, just wanted to hang out with the coolest people I know!” Matt quickly interupted Berwald and effectively earned a playful head pat from the now-awake Tino. “That’s cute Mattie, but if this becomes part of our routine I will make you a practice target with my paint ball gun, understand?” He asked with a too cheery voice that effectively sent a shudder up Berwald’s spine and a whimper escape a startled Matthias. Seeing how he spooked both the 17 and 13 year old brothers, the Finn smiled sheepishly before clearing his throat and looked at the younger with a bit more concern, “What was the nightmare about?”  
“Nothing!” Came the stubborn and embarrassed reply.  
“He dreamed about a chemical fire errupting in the chem lab at school and I being trapped inside.” Berwald bluntly explained, ignoring the indignant squawk that came from the backseat and the sharp kick to the back of his seat.  
“Awww, Don’t worry Mattie, nothing like that will happen. Though it’s adorable how much you worry and care about your big brother. Is that why he let you wear his hoodie?”  
Matthias crossed his arms and looked away, “It can happen, it happened at my school yesterday, and he hadn’t noticed till SOMEONE said something.” He grumbled. Berwald blinked and turned to look behind him and was frankly impressed to see that not only was Matthias wearing his favorite hoodie, but that he managed to snatch it from his room without him noticing. However, instead of being irritated or mad like Matt imagined, he simply chuckled and tugged the hood over his face playfully before shaking his head, “Impressive, Kid. Ya can borrow it for a while if it makes you feel secure, Kay? Just don’t stain it or your ass is grass.”  
“Hey! You can’t say that stuff if I can’t!”  
“If I let you say /one/ curse word will you drop the subject already?”  
“Yeah!”  
“Fine, you got the right to say ONE curse word”  
“Fuck yeah!” Came the elated squeal of a way too eager thirteen year old, followed by the laughter of another 17 year old and Berwald’s phone ringing. His caller ID showed it was Lukas, so he picked up, immediately hearing the disgruntled shout of a cranky 16 year old with the whining of another 13 year old in the background.  
“Why the FUCK are you guys up at 3 am?! Also...Do you have coffee for me?”  
Tino and Matthias were giggling as Berwald held the phone away from his ear, grunting in response before Lukas once again spoke, “Alright, what are ya waiting for? Come pick us up before it gets cold.”

And thus started the tradition of the five friends meeting up at 3 am with coffee and borrowed jackets in the events of a nightmare scaring one of them (though usually Matthias and Emil).

**Author's Note:**

> The part about driving around at 2-3 am is based on a thing my bff and I do/ did during the summer. though we didn't have any more friends with us because we're antisocial af.
> 
> (Everyone can try and pry my redhead Denmark headcannon from my cold dead fingers)


End file.
